Jay Newton-Small 2016

Elle Magazine

The NPF judges said: “Jay Newton-Small’s story showed originality and reminded us that Congress, or this female subset, can actually get things done. In 2014, women senators produced and passed 75 percent of the legislation. How? The women senators have regular bipartisan dinners. They go to each other’s homes and visit each other’s states. Newton-Small’s reporting shows that personal relationships can help dissolve the rancor in Congress and break the gridlock.”

Jay Newton-Small is cofounder of MemoryWell, which tells the life stories of those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Previously, Newton-Small was Washington correspondent for TIME Magazine, where she remains a contributor. At TIME she covered politics as well as stories on five continents from conflicts in the Middle East to the earthquake in Haiti and the November 2015 Paris terror attacks. She has written more than half a dozen TIME cover stories and interviewed numerous heads of state, including Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

She authored the 2016 best selling book, Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works.

Before TIME, Newton-Small was a reporter for Bloomberg News, where she covered the White House and politics.

Newton-Small received an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and undergraduate degrees in International Relations and Art History from Tufts University. She was a 2015 Harvard Institute of Politics fellow and is a 2016 New America fellow.